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Thursday, March 31, 2005

HBO, please buy this, I gotta see it

Flooded with 55,000 complaints before and 8,000 after its January broadcast of the irreverent but award-winning West End musical "Jerry Springer: The Opera," the Governors Program Complaints Committee of the BBC has voted 4 to 1 to reject the objections. The committee, which is charged with deciding if transmitted programs meet BBC editorial standards, codes and guidelines, said of the program that "although the offense to religious beliefs caused to sizable numbers of people should not be underestimated or taken lightly, its broadcast was justified because the outstanding artistic significance of the program outweighed the offense that it caused to some viewers." Featuring Jesus, Mary and God as Jerry Springer's guests, the televised musical, a satire on Mr. Springer's confessional program, also received 2,200 supportive messages. Meanwhile, a Christian group, the Christian Institute, is pursuing a judicial review against the BBC for the broadcast. The BBC said, "This is a separate legal matter and is so far the only legal action ongoing, and because it is ongoing we can't comment further at the moment."